Monday, January 4, 2016

2015 Grocery Budget Results and My New Bad Boy

I have caught up just slightly with company business and managed to remove all the Christmas decorations from the inside of the house so without further wait here are the 2015 Grocery Budget tally results:

Budget: $6700 for the year which was $650 for January when my stepdaughter was still staying with us and $550 per month for the rest of the year. My grocery budget includes all food and nonfood including beauty products - yes, even including makeup and hairspray. It also includes a large amount of over the counter medications which we use to keep our non-life threatening diseases and conditions at bay.

The results?

We stayed on budget in December and ended the year at $6701.07 in actual cash outlay. Woohoo! Total coupons, rebates and points towards grocery redemptions included $321.88. When I cashed in my grocery store points in late November most went to groceries rather than gifts which really made the difference or we would be no where near budget. I intend to do that again this year. My coupon use was quite low in 2015, but I am hoping to slightly increase it to a goal of $500 in coupons, points and rebates in 2016. For my American readers, it is much harder to obtain and use coupons in Canada than in the USA although not impossible. Every penny counts so I am going to try and get back into it as there is no increase to the 2016 budget - it shall remain at $550 per month.

Over the course of the year the Canadian dollar dropped 17% in comparison to the American dollar and that has made a huge impact on cost increases on our groceries. I would guess as high as 75% of our groceries are imported from the USA without any affordable home grown options except meat and produce. Canada simply produces hardly any non-food items so we are at the mercy of the exchange rate. As for food, I buy what we can that is made in Canada but lots of it is still imported from elsewhere. In the late Spring our farmers market opens and I hope to go there a lot more this year, at least once every two weeks. It is not far to drive and is very close to the beach we frequent so we just have to make a point of stopping there. It is both affordable and tasty and way fresher than what we normally get at the grocery store.

I grew a huge bounty of tomatoes off of two plants - definitely a bumper crop year for them. I also grew jalapenos, rosemary, chives and cilantro. The rosemary overwinters here and has now grown into a small healthy bush. The chive plant will likely come back to life in springtime so those are two less plants I will need to worry about spending money on this year. I scored a large amount of .25 cent seed packets of cilantro in September so will not have to spend anything on that. I use cilantro in huge abundance as we love it in salsa, salads, soups, and as a flavoring for rice. I want to add at least 1 more food crop this year to my container gardening - any suggestions? Maybe strawberries or cucumbers. I don't have a regular garden, just two flower size beds and pots. There is no intention to make a garden in our small back yard as the two areas that are unused don't get a lot of sun and we use the rest of it for ourselves and the dog so that is not an option. We are extremely fortunate Buddy does not use my plants as something to pee on - my neighbor has that problem so can't grow anything in her back yard.

After a fantastic blackberry year in 2014 our drought in 2015 made for a poor blackberry crop so I didn't pick any. I am hoping for a better 2016 year for berries as we are nearly at the very end of the blackberry jam and all the frozen blackberries are long gone. I love free food and blackberries are generally bountiful in August here.

Finally, I did something yesterday which I have never done in all my 46 years. I made bread from scratch! Using my brand new...wait for it....Kitchenaid Standmixer!!!! I have wanted one of these badly for 10 years but am far too cheap for the cash outlay. The kids all gave me amazon gcs for Christmas plus I had a few left over from using swagbucks. It was between this bad boy and a new vacuum cleaner (*I am really bad about buying things for myself lol) but the Kitchenaid won out. I managed to get it at a rock bottom low price on December 24th and none of my own beans spent!! The vacuum will have to wait and we will live with our old crappy one and bite the bullet to buy another when it dies (dreaming of a dyson).

Guess what? Loads of men and women around the world make do without a kitchenaid mixer to make bread. But since I have terrible arthritis kneading bread is just not an option. It is sometimes true what they say, the right tools make all the difference.

I chose a sandwich bread with honey in it. I used instant dry yeast and am thinking although it rose I should have let it rise just a little bit longer. I am buying some active dry yeast next time I go to the store which I have read makes it taste even better. We had homemade bread and homemade crock pot beef and veggie soup for dinner last night and of the two loaves I made one is almost gone. One thing to keep in mind if you ever buy one of these - they weigh a ton! We had to move some shelves to make a spot for it where I can lift it in and out of the cupboard easily.

In other news our kitchen back-splash tile has shown up and the tile guy will be here in one week's time to start installing. We still need to repaint both bathrooms and frame the mirrors(ourselves) but based how busy our business is that might have to wait a couple of months. We bought a new sectional couch on boxing day and said goodbye to our 11 year old couch and love seat and sent it off to a new home for $180 (*going into the weekend in Tofino fund). Four kids and a poodle had made it start shedding it's leather skin so it just needed to go. There is zero remaining in the reno fund but hubby has enough in his chequing account to cover the tile guy's labor. Other than some decorating touches the reno is almost done!! I still love my countertops - not to everyone's taste but we love the sparkly multicolored quartz. Who doesn't need a little bling in their kitchen!

37 comments:

Super congrats on making budget AND on the mixer!!! I like kneading dough by hand but it sure is a lot of work so I hear ya. It sounds like yesterday was bread making day. I made two loaves and Hawaii Plan commented on my post that she made bread too. Perfect way to bring in the new year I guess :)

Thanks! My hands hurt constantly so I have to be careful. I did have a breadmaker but it made nasty hard little loaves so I don't even count that. Ruth made bread too (of travelwithkevinandruth.com) so you are right, definitely the way to start off the year!

We did pretty good in our grocery category for the year as well, $4896. not too bad. For the 5 months in Canada we averaged $503 and the other 7 months was an average of $340. Prices in Mexico sure help out a lot in the winter months.

I just finished making bread this morning. I make it from scratch as we and by hand but because mine is gluten free there is no kneading needed. Our daughter has a Kitchenaid mixer as well and she just loves it. Hope you have lots of fun with it. Our bread looks great by the way.

Sorry Kevin, we have our own amazon affiliate links due to selling our own book for the business or I would have in a heartbeat! But glad someone used your links. Amazon is great, especially for those in towns where we don't have the same access to retail items.

I love your BLING!!!! I know I say this same thing over and over but YOU ARE AMAZING!!!! I want to be more like YOU!!We have a similar food budget as you - $600 a month but I went over it just about every month last year!!! My goal this year is to be more watchful of how I'm spending and pay attention to sales and bargains in the grocery store. Usually I send Louis Dean and he just buys what he wants! I guess I will be making more trips myself this year!I am so happy for you in getting your new mixer! We love ours! I didn't know you had arthritis! You are so young! My daughter, Amber, is only 30 years old but she has advanced arthritis in her knees and feet....the doctor says it is the worse he has ever seen in someone so young! AT least it's not in her hands, too!!My hands are so bad I can't manage the car seats unbuckling on the quads very well! I'm always worrying that I won't be able to get them OUT of the carseats one day and have to feed them in the car!!!Happy New Year, my Friend!!!

You are so funny. I have exactly the same problem with my hubby so I try never to send him to the store to pick up anything (not entirely successful when I am tired or he is there for something else). He always says he is good at making money and I am good at saving it lol.

I cannot comment on your budget as I am only a single person. My budget for food, toiletries, OTC melds etc. Is $125.00 per month. It is a tough go sometimes and am thankful when given free food. I have a small garden probably 9'x9' so that helps a bit. Glad to see you are able to make bread. I enjoy but let my bread machine run it till it is rising time. I hadn't bought tuna in about a year. Was in Safeway today and it was 2 cans for $7.00. Last January I paid 2 for $3.50. Was rather shocked by that increase. It was bad enough when the packages were all made smaller yet sold for the same price. I never shop at Safeway. I usually use Superstore. My SIL goes to Walmart. I try to shop Canadian only. I am just outside of Winnipeg.

I am with you, Superstore is my go to store. Meds are the biggest problem, had to pick up one today for $13 for a tiny bottle for hubby's IBS. We don't have benefits so this is still cheaper than anything that would be prescribed. I have found Costco to be cheaper on most OTCs though and after years without a membership bought one we definitely saved a couple hundred. If I was single the budget would be much lower, as we tend to eat at home 99% of the time and we eat well. I don't cook complicated meals when by myself and they tend to be a lot cheaper :) I only buy tuna when less than $1 a can at superstore and usually no name. We eat a lot of white fish, or steak bought when on sale and then stretched to things like our soup last night $3 steak= 4 meals as we are having it again tonight.

The only ones I have seen used are almost as much as the new ones or 60 years old and I hate to invest in one that old. They certainly are made well and look like they could go through an earthquake or two no problem (* we live in an earthquake zone lol)

Looks amazing! I'm with you - my hands hurt too much to knead without assistance. I have a stand mixer (15ish years old now) & it's one of our most used kitchen tools (after the espresso machine & food processor). Enjoy!

You will love both your stand mixer and sectional sofa -- both are an integral part of our happiness at Chez Petite! I do need to get my mixer in for a "check up" as it's gotten serious use for 15 years and could use a tune-up. It's one of my favorite things in the kitchen. I am so happy for you!

First time for a sectional for us but it was so much more comfortable than any of the sofas or loveseat sets. We watch a lot of movies at home and this is the only one both hubby and I agreed on :) It wasn't cheap but I am hoping it lasts 10 years like the last ones did.

Congrats on both the budget and the bread making. When we had our kitchen renovated I had one shelf made the perfect height so I don't have to lift the kitchenaid either up or down to get it to the counter. My builder said he thinks he has seen it all now, but it is honestly perfect for me.

I'm one who keeps mine on the counter. I bought the cover for it and it's next to the toaster. It went through our raising six kids and still looks and works fine. It's used most weeks in my cooking. They were more expensive back when I bought it but I have really put it through its paces so has been worth it to me.

I love the bling!!! It seems that I can find more and more projects. Den just talks over me at this point when I come up with an idea. Honestly, I just need a crew on call at all times for all the things that I want to do. I also need a few million dollars.

It helps that I purposely held off on buying things after Christmas - and hardly left the house the last 2 weeks of December except for 1.49 day. I had stocked up bigtime in November so just had to fill in the gaps. Definitely going to save for a Dyson.

Are you able to find bulk yeast in your area? It keeps for YEARS in the freezer, and cuts the cost of home made bread to just the cost of the flour and whatever other ingredients you add. An egg and some grated Cheddar cheese mixed in with the flour make a wonderfully flavorful and attractive loaf. Something I discovered pretty much by accident.

Welcome Judilyn! I will try and find it in bulk, we have a bulk barn although not sure if they carry yest. I have a large rosemary bush so am hoping to make herb and cheese bread once in a while. An egg? I will have to try adding that. Thanks for stopping by!

I have a huge and heavy sunbeam mixmaster power plus inherited from my mother in law. I haven't tried doing bread with it but really need to give it a try. Making bread saves a huge amount of money although I think we eat more because it is so tasty.

Powell River is working hard to become more sustainable and we now have a winter market. Many of the items are not fresh vegetables, but you can get baked goods and canned items. Our garden is still producing greens (chard and kale) and I have potatoes and onions stored in a cool spot. But that isn't enough to keep us going. Travelling between Powell River and the States we definitely notice the higher Canadian food prices on thing like dairy, fresh foods, meats and of course liquor. Love your mixer. Wish I had one, but running it would break the bank on our battery bank. Hope my hands hold out. - Margy

Yeah, that mixer uses a lot of power, that's for sure - but I've used it 3 x already so bound to get a lot of use. Our winter's farmers market tends to only have upscale things like wines and canned jams (for $10 a jar!) so I tend to avoid it.

You're right, sometimes the right tool really makes all the difference. My Vitamix was expensive but invaluable for all the raw recipes I make, it's used every day. I love your grocery budget posts, we've got our grocery budget pretty low but I stopped closely tracking it, I'm curious to see what we're spending and how we could get it lower. I need to use my friend's yards (they'd let me, haha) to grow some food this year.

Great buy on the mixer! Thank you for your comment on my blog about downsizing. I too had to help my Mom downsize a 4 bdrm house and move to a one bedroom apt. So hard!! I am determined to get this done sooner then later and enjoy a more simplified lifestyle. It is hard for a collector and I will have my collections, but only if I LOVE LOVE it! Linda

It is really hard to determine which are your favorite pieces, I constantly have to remind myself we have a small house so better not drag home too much or will have to get rid of other things. Good luck to you!